"We are not against review of electoral rolls:" CPI-M MP John Brittas on SIR ahead of Parliament Winter Session

New Delhi [India], November 30 (ANI): Ahead of the winter parliamentary session, CPI-M MP John Brittas said on Sunday that his party is not opposed to the review of electoral rolls in the ongoing SIR process, saying they are not opposed to the review of electoral rolls but question the haste to complete the exercise quickly.
He emphasised that they are in favour of electoral reforms and called for structured, comprehensive discussions on election reforms.
The CPI-M MP also declared that the government has lost this moral authority since the recent Delhi blast and demanded discussions on all these issues, including the electoral rolls, the alleged high-handedness of the Election Commission, and numerous federal problems.
Brittas further stated that if the winter session of parliament is disrupted, the responsibility will lie entirely on the government.
"Delhi blast means that National Security is under the cloud. The Home Minister, during the last session of the Parliament, had said that all terrorists have been wiped out from the country. Even if a terrorist crept in from Pakistan, he would be shot in the head. What happened about all those statements? We have homegrown terrorists here. Even the capital city is not immune to terrorist attacks. The government has lost this moral authority. We want to have discussions on all these issues, including the electoral rolls, the high-handed precision taken by the Election Commission, and numerous federal issues..." Brittas told ANI.
"We are not against the review of the electoral rolls, and we have made it clear. But what is the hurry? What is the sanctity of the deadline? Kerala is having local body elections and we said that the same government officials are deputed for this also. In the name of local body elections, they deferred the SIR in Maharashtra, so what is this discrimination between BJP-ruled Maharashtra and opposition-ruled Kerala? We want to expose this... We are for electoral reforms. Let us widen the topic of SIR. Let us bring in electoral reforms with full-fledged structured discussions...If the Parliament is stalled, disrupted, the onus and responsibility squarely rests on this government," Brittas said.
The CPI-M MP asserted the need to raise several issues on the floor of the House, including labour codes, the Delhi blast, the SIR process, and pollution concerns. Additonally, Brittas also mentioned that the INDIA bloc allies have scheduled a floor leaders' meeting for tomorrow, ahead of the upcoming winter session.
"It is one of the shortest sessions... We need to raise numerous issues on the floor of the house because there are a plethora of issues plaguing this nation. The most important thing is the SIR issue... There are other issues, such as the notification of the labour codes, which will deprive workers of their hard-won rights. Then issues like the Delhi blast... Other issues, like pollution and federal issues, where governors are sitting on the bills... We want to raise them in the Parliament, and we feel the Government would take a positive stand..." said Brittas on upcoming winter sessions.
"We have a floor leaders meeting scheduled for tomorrow with the INDIA block allies, and we would prioritise the issues and raise them jointly... If the government wants to run the parliament, it needs to reciprocate the opposition's gesture by showing that we are ready to cooperate, provided the government gives us scope to discuss all these issue,." added Brittas.
The Winter Session of Parliament will begin on December 1 and will continue till December 19. According to the sources, the Parliament is set to take up a slew of legislative and financial business, with the President recommending the introduction of key bills, including the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill, 2025; the Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025; and the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, etc. (ANI)